The present invention relates to modular conveyor belts and more specifically to modular conveying belts having upstanding flights for holding material on a moving belt.
Upstanding flights for holding material on a modular conveyor belt are typically formed with either flat planar surfaces or with vertical ribs. The flat planar surfaces have some drawbacks including the fact that wet particles tend to cling to the flat surfaces. In order to prevent the conveyed items from clinging to the flight modules, vertical ribs have been added to the planar flights. The vertical ribs prevent wet food particles such as sliced carrots from sticking to the flights. However, these type of flights have been harder to clean because of the corners created by the ribs. Particles may become trapped in the corners created by the ribs and may resist being removed by sprayed water.
Another consideration in the design of upstanding flight modules is that the flights must have sufficient strength to withstand relatively heavy impacts associated with the loading of the materials to be conveyed onto the belt.
Finally, the surface of the flight module must also be easy to clean so that it is suitable for conveying food items and the like.
There have been many attempts at providing upstanding flights for holding material on a moving modular belt. U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,183 to Lapeyre relates to an endless loop conveyor belt 22 having a module 36 with a conveying member 39. The top side of each module 36 defines an area for attaching a conveying member 39 and the conveying member 39 has a bottom side or attaching portion 72 which cooperates with the area 74 on the top side of the base member 37 of module 36. As shown in FIGS. 20A to 20C, the conveying members may include openings, vertical pins and spikes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,213,527 to Lapeyre et al. describes a chain link conveyor comprising interlinked modules. FIG. 11 shows a flight module having a vertically undulated surface useful for picking up both processed fruit and conveying it along the conveyor. The undulated surface is described as preventing the fruit from sticking to the module.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,591 to Faulkner relates to an endless loop conveyor formed of interlinked modules. FIGS. 10 and 11 show the use of a reversed-bend cleat having a product-carrying surface 76 and a product-releasing surface 80.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,514 to Faulkner describes conveyor belt modules comprising flight projection 40 having a forward face 50 and a rearward face 52 and first and second end connectors 54, 56. The connectors 54, 56 cooperate with those on an adjacent module to maintain alignment of the faces in side-by-side flights.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,884,935 to Fox relates to a conveyor type dishwasher having upstanding fingers 76.
Despite these efforts, there remains a need for an upstanding flight module having a shape that provides high strength/rigidity relative to its weight (thereby reducing manufacturing costs and improving performance), that is easy to clean, and that prevents the items being conveyed from sticking to the surface of the flights.
The present invention meets the above-described need by providing a flight module for use in a modular conveying belt. The module includes an intermediate portion having an upstanding wall that extends therefrom. The upstanding wall is corrugated in a direction transverse to the direction of belt travel. The corrugation provides rigidity to withstand impacts from either the top or the front of the module. The rigidity and impact resistance of the flight modules provides strength for loading material onto the belts. Also, the corrugation provides for equal strength at a reduced thickness in comparison to other flight modules. Accordingly, the corrugated design reduces the material costs associated with manufacturing the flight modules. The corrugated shape of the flight modules also eliminates the flat surfaces that are associated with straight-wall designs and that create problems with wet particles clinging to the flat surfaces. Finally, since the corrugated flights have all smooth and rounded surfaces they are easier to clean than the ribbed flights.
In one embodiment of the invention, a first plurality of link ends extend outwardly from the intermediate portion and have openings defined therein that are transverse to the direction of belt travel. A second plurality of link ends extend outwardly from the intermediate portion in a direction opposite to the first plurality of link ends. The second plurality of link ends also have openings defined therein that are transverse to the direction of belt travel. The link ends are arranged such that the openings in respective link ends are capable of aligning when a pair of adjacent belt modules are juxtaposed. A pivot rod journaled in the aligned apertures of the side-by-side and end-to-end connected modules forms a hinge between adjacent rows. Rows of belt modules are connected together to form an endless conveyor belt capable of articulating about a drive sprocket.
The present invention may be used with open grid belts or flat belts. Also, the flight modules of the present invention may be used with both straight-running and radius belts.